Tuesday was a big day…I headed to Santa Clara County for our design review hearing in which neighbors can come and ask questions, concerns about the visual impact of our future house. I have a hunch that this design process is a result of a hideous house on a hill that is visible from a major highway (280) that I did a little research about. It was built in the 70’s and looks like a Fred Flintstone House and they recently painted it bright orange (see below)! So bless their hearts, we all get to pay money to make sure our new houses get reviewed so this never happens again on a hillside in Silicon Valley.

Our designer Scott met me at the county and we were third on the 9:00 agenda. It was tape recorded…state your name kind of officialness and then it was over. No one showed up with a concern. Scott and I went upstairs to the planning office to submit for grading and drainage approval. He shoved over a stack of foot high papers, application and there was one thing missing…a cost estimate from the Civil Engineer in which the county uses against you to form their fee to charge you. They take the cost estimate to put in the driveway, push dirt around for the excavation and the drainage and then plug it into a horrendous “formula” that even had a square root on it!! I haven’t seen a square root since high school! It looks like this, √, in case you forgot too. So, Shelby, assistant extraordinaire at D&Z Design, took the submittal package back to the county the next day. I was kind of glad not to write that check since it seems less painful when others do it for you. So, now we wait for their comments on any changes that need to be made. Next week, we submit the entire set of plans for the house!